In orderly fashion

Keen to get out after a two week break from climbing, Tomski was the only person to bite when I put the word out.  The original plan was to go on Sunday but cyclone Seroja was nearing the northern coast of Western Australia, and despite being close to 800km south of where it will hit this would result in a low pressure system bringing rain to our parts.  As such with the conditions on Sunday looking worse as the week progressed we changed to Saturday.  This did mean I would need to be a bit more mindful of time, as Lisa and I were heading to Rongy’s engagement party later that afternoon:

As such it was a first light start, as if I need an excuse to suggest that!  I gave Tomski a choice of places to go as he is only in the country for probably a month or two longer and I am keen to give him the opportunity to sample the full range of crags and rock types we are lucky enough to have here.  I had in mind either some harder sport climbing at Welly Dam, so he could have a lead, or for Moses Rocks.  Offering the complete opposite of (mostly) trad and generally lower grades (well that wasn’t quite true either).  He plumped for the later and so it was that he drove down towards the carpark in the morning light, shortly after I had arrived:

I had a quick chat with Howsie, to see what lines he reckoned I should take Tomski up.  If he only had one visit here I wanted to make sure he sampled the best stuff, and many of the lines that Howsie suggested aligned with my thinking.  So it was that we headed to Hands-Up Wall to start the day.  Not surprisingly with a 4m swell brewing the Zawn was out of action but that was OK as I really wanted to give Tomski a taste of slab climbing, Moses Rocks style.  We started on Many Hands, a more featured part of the wall so in a way a gentle introduction of what was to come:

Despite the first route being a gentle introduction the rounded nature of the rock and lack of good edges and positive holds, both hands and feet, was immediately obvious to Tomski.  He was really interested in how a place being so close to Wilyabrup could offer such a different rock, it’s true and geologically we are so lucky here to have a lot of variation.  He also remarked on the flared nature of many of the features, resulting in much of my gear looking less than comforting.  At a place like this you really need to know and trust the physics and capability of gear placements, not all the routes are that bad but some certainly are.  It’s part of the reason others don’t climb here but also why I love this place so much, and each time I write a post about it I rave about it:

The other amazing aspect of Moses Rocks that, in my mind, makes it more striking than the main cliffs of Wilyabrup that most climbers head too is the situation.  The closeness of the waves, as shown above, and view both north back to the carpark and beach and south across to Wilyabrup are stunning.  You get to see right down the barrel of the waves as they roll into the bays on either side.   As we walked in Tomski was immediately struck by the situation and was loving it, another person converted!  Added to that with today’s crisp cool morning and light easterlies to keep the spray away we had picked the perfect day to be here:

Next up was Gothic Streak and then what I regard as probably one of the scariest routes here Hands Up.  These two lines are graded the same, which is probably fair for difficulty, but the latter follows by far the most flared and shallow crack Moses Rocks has on offer.  With no other opportunities for gear, Tricams are perfect for this but they really don’t look that secure.  Tomski on second didn’t need to worry about that aspect, which was good as he was having to get used to trusting friction and really working on his footwork.  The first three lines were up the slightly more generously angled slabs, but we were slowing moving rightwards:

This meant approaching the blunt arête of Hands-Up Wall where the next route went, Fat Slags.  It was at this point that I had to explain a few things to Tomski, firstly the names.  You may recall from earlier posts the names of quite a few routes here have been taken from Viz comics.  A classic and at times viewed as an inappropriate British comic from the 1980s (http://viz.co.uk/).  I doubt in this day and age you would get away with such a comic, and no doubt some of the names used for the routes here will be called out over time, as societal tolerances, views and perceptions change:

Fat Slags was the route that would really show Tomski what Moses offered, there are places on this route that there are no hand holds and it is all footwork.  I’m not sure if he believed me when I said this, but when he reached the crux (above) he looked up and said something like “you really did mean there are no holds didn’t you”.  He had to work the crux sequence, but it was a learning experience and one he was eager to make the most of.  My intention had been to skip the next line, and come back to it.  But when I showed him the line Tomski was keen to keep ticking the lines from right to left:

Now before we get to the next line the second thing I had to explain was the strange Australian bolt plate.  This was a new concept to Tomski, and so I explained how they worked which is pretty straight forward.  He also asked the obvious question of why they were used, so he got my view related to cost fully understanding that is not everyone’s view.  But that said seeing the mix of carrots (whether glue or bashed in), hangers and ring bolts on so many crags I reckon my theory has merit.  Either that or the climbing communities care or worry about other possible reasons of visual impact has changed.  Above Tomski has finally reached the better high holds and last bolt plate on Johnny Fartpants:

As we moved from right to left the routes were getting harder starting at grade 14 and for route number five we were at 19.  And it was on Johnny Fartpants, which is close to vertical that I had to explain that on the steeper sections some hand (or should I say fingertip, if you are lucky) holds are not for pulling on.  They are just to balance on.  On several sections on this route they are so small that unless you have built up experience on using them you wouldn’t give them a second glance.  Tomski found this out the hard way and spent a long time figuring out how he was going to get up this route, but he eventually managed it and was still smiling when he did:

Fortunately the next route in line was Wheely Things, what I reckon to be the crag classic.  Unlike all the slabs and shallow flared cracks of the previous routes, this deep crack offered great jamming and loads of gear.  But beware it is guarded by an initial crack that seems to fox many people.  And after the battle he had on the previous route it did perplex a weary Tomski for a while.  After a false start or two he got past that and then got stuck into the rest of the crack line and loved it, as shown by a few picture above and then the smiling happy face in the above image after finishing the route:

I still had oodles of energy and was keen to keep going.  It is not that I didn’t have to focus or work on the routes, I just have them dialled and can dance my way up them.  Although I have to admit I can’t recall when I last climbed or led Johnny Fartpants (sorry just had to get that name in one more time ha ha), so was pleased with how I went on that one.  I think having stepped down to a grade 15 had given Tomski renewed energy, and the next one called Twist Till You Lock I knew would bump things up.  So I did suggest we could bypass this one but he was keen and he will only now hear that it was grade 21.  Something I hope will give him some comfort in why he found it so challenging:

It is not a route I have often led and the final roof feels super tricky, but also super safe with a bolt right at the final moves.  Too tricky for even wearier Tomski when he got to it and I thought he may have been done by then, but no… The next more prominent arête up which Victor and His Boa Constrictor ascends appealed to him.  So off I went one more time, loving the delicate nature of the climbing here.  The bottom moves are steep and make use of more holds not meant to be pulled on, and from the offset Tomski was waning.  It looked like every move was punishing him right up until the final glory jug could be reached.  And even then the following mantle was looking like it was hard work:

Cornish Nasty awaited round the corner, the last of the longer routes on Hands Up Wall.  But Tomski was toast and deservedly so, having worked really hard on several of the stiffer lines here.  I think it is also fair to say he fully enjoyed the morning, location and every route we did so I do hope I can bring him back here before he heads off.  There are other sections of this long drawn out climbing area, with more varied and interesting routes that are so worth exploring.  With a bit of luck we can snag equally great conditions next time.  And if we do make it back, to avoid Tomski burning out mid-session, I might suggest not going at the routes in the such an orderly fashion: